technology

what’s next in cpe?

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bob jennings
bob jennings

the live, in-person seminar reborn, refashioned for the web.

by bob jennings
jennings seminars

in the roughly forty years since continuing professional education first started for accountants, there have been three major changes in the way to obtain cpe.

the first major change came from the presentations of the venerable sidney kess, who brought practicality and examples to an arena that had previously been occupied by pedantic and often academic educators. in the early years of cpe his shining light of the highest quality cpe was held to be the pinnacle for all other presenters.

the next era became the era of boredom. read more →

trends in temporary staffing

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rationalizing a broken system and recapturing two-thirds of lost value.

dan gaffney
dan gaffney

with cpa firms and corporations rushing to staff up with a suddenly warming economy, finance and accounting employment agencies are booming. but it can’t last. sooner, rather than later, the internet will change everything.

dan gaffney, a cpa, cia, cisa and a 20-year audit veteran, in both public accounting and in corporate, is positioning himself to take advantage of the paradigm shift. he’s out to revolutionize the finance and accounting temp business.

his chicago-based incubation-stage start-up, vouchedin.com, is seeking to do to short-term staffing placements what monster did to newspaper classifieds and what apple did to the recording industry: leverage the internet to cut out the middleman, re-channeling profits to both the worker and the employer. it could change a big part of the accounting profession as well. – the editors read more →

new client opportunities with mobile apps

by

sandi smith leyva
sandi smith leyva

the top apps accountants need to know

by sandi smith leyva

mobile accounting has definitely arrived. a great first question to ask clients who are asking for mobile accounting is to just double-check to see if they have already downloaded their bank apps. if not, that may be something you can help them get set up.

but don’t just think about the core accounting system. get them hooked up with their bank, credit card accounts, paypal, payroll, and any other peripheral support that has an app, like timesheets, field services, and project management. when you do, they will be ecstatic at your resourcefulness and you will be their latest mobile genius.

there are some great new apps that extend core accounting systems’ functionality into our mobile devices. let’s take a look at a few of them for accountants, from quickbooks to adp and a host of new applications: read more →

business clients tell accountants: evolve or die

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is your accountant ahead of the curve on technology, or behind?

source: sleeter group
 clients find accountants’ tech skills lacking.

by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

as small and medium-sized businesses move increasingly online and adopt technologically integrated accounting systems, many tax and accounting firms will need to evolve or face extinction, according to a new survey obtained by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间. read more →

the computer is dead [pro member exclusive]

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thin and light convertible ultrabooks like lenovo’s thinkpad twist are replacing some traditional desktop and laptop computers. click to learn more.

welcome to the post-pc world.

brian tankersley

by brian tankersley, cpa.citp
for intuit accountants news central

welcome to the post-pc era. the (desktop) computer as king of the technology kingdom is now officially dead!

over the last five years, we have largely moved from desktop computers running locally installed purchased software to running mobile apps, and subscribing to services ranging from office 365 to quickbooks® online. read more →

the 10-step recipe for engagement disaster

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tasty tips from a lousy cook.

by drew west
@deltekdrew

drew west
drew west

you know why i like writing articles?  it keeps me out of the kitchen, where from bachelorhood through fatherhood, i still make any culinary task a bumbling trip down a path of missed ingredients and inaccurate measurements – right to the doorstep of “didn’t-turn-out-like-i-expected.”

why is our local pizzeria on the speed-dial? for those (thankfully infrequent) times when my wife is traveling, and i’m on the hook to keep my two youngsters relatively nourished.

unlike my cooking endeavors, yours in public accounting surely go beyond the simplicity of cold cereal or the occasional peanut-butter sandwich.

today’s modern engagements require delicate management of people, their work, the client’s demands and the firm’s expectations.

read more →

the newest top ten tech trends in tax and accounting

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beyond paperless: cpa firms launch a new arms race for cloud and mobile technologies.

by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

leading cpa firms have clearly broken the going-paperless barrier and are adopting cloud and mobile technologies at a record pace, according to new data obtained by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research.

indeed, the question for practitioners is no longer “have you gone paperless yet?” or even “how paperless have you gone?” it is now “how much of your workflows have you moved to the cloud and made mobile and accessible everywhere and any time?” and the rest of the firms are asking themselves, “can i catch up?”

the trend is, of course, a daily challenge for the profession, which 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 covers in depth: 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 analysis: 40% of firms going to the cloud  |  how apple is changing your business  | accounting firm leaders agree: the cloud is here  |  11 things you take for granted today that technology will kill within six years  |  top 10 tech predictions for your business clients  |  cloud & mobile technologies drive change in tax and accounting  |    five questions to ask before going to the cloud  |   “the cloud is real”  |  the powerful mega-trends behind the upheaval at sage software  |   cpas in top 100 accounting firms get an “a” for adoption of cloud, portable document scanners and workflow management technologies    |    top tech habits of high-performing firms  |  seven tech lessons for busy season   |

but the pace is astonishing. a new survey of 115 of some of the best-managed firms in the business shows:

  • smart phones for handling email, contacts and schedules are all but universal.
  • email now dominates client communications, not the phone call.
  • paper w2’s and 1099’s are practically extinct, having been scanned at first touch.
  • and if you’re using only two monitors on your desk, you’re getting left behind. most of the advanced firms are now using three per person. and that’s not counting the smartphones or ipads that are always nearby.

the survey shows, for instance: read more →

tax pro’s slammed with sloppy software and federal sequestration

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will this be remembered as another “tax season from hell?”
join the survey; get the updates.

busy season barometer

by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

the last time tax professionals slogged through a tax season from hell, it was 2008, the financial world was crashing into a million little pieces, and 1 in 4 accountants was reporting disastrous operations.

before that, long-timers might recall 1995, when the irs deployed a filing fraud crackdown that delayed millions of refunds.

more tax season research: tax pro’s turn negative on busy season | busy season outlook 2013 | top tax season trends, issues and opportunities

this year, with the irs opening the filing gates not until march 4, could 2013 become another one for the record books?

in the latest update to the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer, topline findings include:

  • the number of practitioners reporting a worse season this year, as compared to last year at the same time, is surging month to month.
  • the top 15 issues causing concern, led by irs operations and software and technology problems
  • verbatim reports from practitioners around the nation, including one who is seeing a 20% fee decline in his practice.
  • how practitioners are responding to clients’ lack of understanding, including resorting to discounts.

what your liability policy probably doesn’t cover

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insurance company beats accountant in court over lost client data. how to make sure it doesn’t happen to you.

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

in yet another warning to firms about safeguarding client databases, insurance policies won’t necessarily protect you if the data gets lost or stolen, according to a 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 reading of a new legal case.

the highly influential u.s. court of appeals for the seventh has ruled that nationwide insurance co. has no duty to defend or indemnify an accountant who lost sensitive personal information from client files.

here’s the case, analysis and comment: read more →

three strategies to improve buy-in for change

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feeling the frustration?

by dustin hostetler
flowtivity

dustin hostetler

how many times has your cpa firm implemented a process change or new technology, only to find out on the back-end after implementation, that only a fraction of the firm is following the new process or using all the features?

related: the coming storm in staff turnover (video)

if you answered something along the lines of “all the time” don’t worry, you are not alone. obtaining the much needed buy-in for process and technology improvements within firms is a concern i hear regularly. read more →

hackers show how to break into major accounting software systems

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the hacker transfers receivables credit balances to payables in gp dynamics (from the white paper)

pro members: get the details in an instant download.

by rick telberg

when finance and accounting professionals worry about computer security, they may think about stolen laptops, purloined passwords, or lost backup drives.

but few worry about hacker attacks against their accounting system software, the kind of attacks that could bring down an entire business or even up-end part of the global accounting system.

well, start worrying.

a pair of computer science security experts has unveiled new research that shows just how easy it might be to crack into such commonly used software systems as sap, oracle, or even quickbooks, sage or microsoft’s dynamics.

get the details in an instant download. click here…

read more →

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 analysis: 40% of firms going to the cloud

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new data and analysis cited in cch cloud technology report.

accounting, tax and audit leaders are using cloud computing to improve speed, agility and collaboration, while also increasing productivity and profits, according to a new report on technology trends.

rick telberg
rick telberg

nearly 40 percent of accounting and tax firms plan to migrate some systems to the cloud within the next 12 to 18 months, and about one-third plan to do so this year, according to market research and consulting firm bay street group, which publishes 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间. as recently as two years ago, the adoption rate was in the single digits. “the environment is changing rapidly,” ceo rick telberg points out. the research is cited in the latest edition of partners magazine, published by cch.

the report also cites data and case studies from tribridge it services in tampa, fla.; stambaugh ness cpas of york, pa.; steven brewer & co. cpas of salem, ind.; gamble & livingston cpas of myrtle beach, s.c.; and david bergstein, cpa, citp, director of strategic relations for wolters kluwer.

instant download: click here to get the full report (pdf). read more →